Author: Hal Hollister Ministry

“Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:11-12

No one wants to hear about the anger of God. We have been taught by Christianity that God is compassionate, loving and forgives all sin.

Christianity overlooks the character of retribution in the heart of God. Sin does not go unpunished! You and I are accountable to God for all our actions.

Moses understands the personality of God. He has witnessed the power of God’s anger and the relationship between the fear of God and His anger towards humanity.

The fear of the Lord is worshipping God for who He is and making Jesus the centerpiece of your life. It is living in oneness with God through His Spirit. God is a Spirit and we must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

Moses admonishes believers to number each day in your life as a precious gift from God. Life is short so pray for a heart of wisdom.

Commit your works each day to God and ask Him to guide your footsteps. This is acknowledging the fear of God and the desire to be in the center of His will.

Dwell with God through His Spirit. Seek His voice out every day of your life. This act is an expression of your fear of the Lord and the importance of living in communion with the Living God.

 

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

The act of appeasing is to make concessions often at the sacrifice of principles. As believers, you and I tend to interpret scripture so it is compatible with our lifestyle. Or, we accept what we like and reject disagreeable elements.

 

It is very difficult to live in the world and not be influenced by worldly values. The world operates on the principle of satisfying self. God calls believers to die to self and live for Christ.

Where is the middle ground? We live in the world but we are not of the world. How can we employ the values of Christ into our life while enjoying the goodness in the world?

You have to develop the mind set the pathway to the goodness of God comes to those who seek Him above all else. This spiritual principle will never change and troubles come when you reverse the priorities and place self first.

Appeasement takes place when you yield to fleshy indulgences and reject the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You fall out of oneness with God to satisfy self.

The biggest issue with Christianity is appeasing scripture to fulfill the goals of religion or to comply with the changing needs of society. With God this is a non negotiable issue. God never changes and His Word cannot be watered down or revised.

The only way you can be insulated from the temptations in the world is to live in oneness with God yielding to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is your teacher and He will show you how to live in the world without compromising the values of Christ.

Taking short cuts with God will lead to misery and destruction! Honor almighty God for who He is!

There is no one like Him!

 

And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Luke 18:40

This question was spoken by Jesus to a blind beggar as He was walking along a road heading to Jericho.

There was a crowd passing by following Jesus and the beggar cried out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”?

The people around the beggar rebuked Him and told him to be silent. But this just caused the beggar to cry out more.

Jesus stopped and asked the beggar what he wanted Jesus to do for him? The beggar responded “Let me recover my sight” and Jesus said “Recover your sight; your faith has made you whole”.

The beggar was healed and followed Jesus giving glory to God. And, all the people who witnessed this miracle, gave praise to God.

Today, think about Jesus asking you the same question He asked the beggar. What can I do for you?

You have to ask Jesus with a resolute attitude understanding He has power and dominion over all things. Ask by faith without wavering unbelief. Remember, you are petitioning the Son of God who died for you on the Cross.

The ending to this miracle is the reason Jesus healed the beggar. The beggar and those around Him all gave glory to God. They believed in Jesus!

 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” James 1:5-7

If you woke up today in a cloud of confusion or lacking wisdom this narrative is perfect counsel for you. God desires to be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway.

Simply go before God and ask for wisdom. The promise from Christ Jesus is He will generously give wisdom without finding fault in you.

The caveat is when you ask you must believe and not doubt. The words of God are pure words like silver refined in a fiery furnace, purified seven times, you shall keep them O Lord.

You can trust the words spoken to you by God. They will never fail you and they do not need to be justified by proof or evidence.

When God makes a promise He cannot swear by anything greater than Himself. His Word is perfect and endures forever!

Heaven and earth will fade away but the Word of God is eternal and life changing. The Word is your only guarantee for an abundant life.

You and I have to live today invested in the promises of God and not waver because of the circumstances of life. Your safe haven is in God not in the corrupt ways of the world.

 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6

You will be surprised how Christ Jesus views the subject of consistency in a believer.

In dealing with this, you have to study the life of Jesus. He was inconsistent, unpredictable, and controversial in both His words and actions but He was very consistent in His loyalty to God. Jesus lived to please His Father.

When you think about consistency with Christ you have to forget about doing anything for Him. You have to think about walking by faith and living in absolute loyalty to God. Remember, loyalty is not about works. It is about coming to know Jesus and living in obedience to His voice.

God covets your worship, prayer life, and living with Him through His Spirit. This is how you can learn consistency with Christ.

The goal is to be be zealous to know Jesus and live by faith believing in His promises. However, it is much easier to take the short cut through religion and works than to be loyal to God. If you pursue the works approach you will never experience the transfigured Christ.

Your loyalty to God will crucify your ego and independence and cause you to become a humble person. And, your preconceived ideas about pleasing Christ will disappear as you discover the importance of walking by faith.

Living in loyalty to God will change your priorities and reshape your thinking patterns. Consistency with Christ is following these disciplines:

Fervent prayer seeking the will of God.

Obedience to the voice of Christ when He makes no sense to you.

Living in oneness with Christ for who He is and not for what you can get out of Him.

Giving up the the right to yourself for Christ.

Consistency is simply asking Jesus each day “Not my will but Yours be done”!

 

“Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” Ephesians 4:13

The challenge for a disciple of Christ is to be able to disconnect from the values of the world while staying in the flow of life. This is very difficult to accomplish and requires the help of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was not a recluse; He entered fully into life. For example, Jesus enjoyed participating in Jewish celebrations, helping his disciples catch fish, and celebrating at a wedding.

Jesus lived in the world but he was not of the world. The priority of Jesus was to live in oneness with His Father. Jesus knew His source for strength and wisdom came from His Father and He spent a great deal of time in prayer. Jesus would frequently retreat from the world and find a quiet place to be with His Father.

Jesus invested His life in teaching His disciples the truths of God and He did this by entering into their lives. He taught others about God through all the vagaries of life.

How does all this relate to you and I?

The role of a disciple is to be totally consecrated to God. This happens through prayer and seeking the perfect and acceptable will of God in every aspect of your life. You live in oneness with Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The role of God is to sanctify you with His righteousness. This happens as you walk by faith believing in the promises of God. It is not your responsibility to attempt to sanctify yourself through sacrificial living, religious activities, or withdrawing from the world. This has no value in becoming Christ like.

The goal of a disciple is to identify if your interests in life are compatible with what God wants for you. This covers the full spectrum of life—your work, family, money, social activities, spiritual habits, and daily living issues.

Why waste time on pursuing things which are not important to Jesus? The best way to determine this is simply to ask Jesus what is on His mind about your life? You will be surprised to find out His answers and how His concerns deal with many ordinary things you tend to overlook or don’t consider important.

The purpose of all this is to make sure you and God are on the same page. Then God can do great things through you!

 

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

What causes a believer walking with God to waver in his faith?

The cause will always relate to fear or doubt. Something has happened in your world to cause you to doubt God.

In actuality, you have brought this doubt upon yourself because you are judging God by the standards of the world and not by His Word.

God does not function according to the world. In fact, He died to overcome the world. As a believer, you and I live in the world but we are not of the world.

So when the trials of life come upon you what is vitally important is to operate under the promises of God and give no power to your feelings which will always lead you astray from God.

Your feelings have no power to change your life but the Holy Spirit living within you can overcome your feelings and do a powerful work to restore your faith in the Living Christ.

Come to God by faith living in this precious promise from your Creator; “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than you ask or think according to the power working within you.”

When your ship is seeking turn to Christ Jesus who can steady your vessel. And, He will give you more than you could ever imagine!

 

“Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.” Hebrews 3:9

Your relationship with Jesus Christ begins with faith. Faith is believing in something you cannot see. The genuineness of your faith will determine your devotion and loyalty to Christ.

The most important substance in your walk with God is your faith in His promises. God will judge you on the merits of your faith and you cannot please Him without faith.

The question becomes how can you have unyielding faith in God and be free of doubt and fear?

Let’s begin with what won’t work. Faith cannot be achieved intellectually or through self discipline. And, memorizing scripture will fail you.

Your faith won’t grow through religious activities, reading spiritual books, or doing good works. It has to be lived out in real life. Faith comes exponentially as you let go and trust God regardless of your circumstances.

Genuine faith will only come out of a personal relationship with Christ Jesus. You have to meet the Living Christ, get to know Him, and experience His characteristics at work in your life.

When you abandon yourself to Christ, He becomes alive in every aspect of your life. You experience His greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty. You understand He is an omniscient God and wants the very best for you.

Faith is seeking Christ out for your every need in life and recognizing He is your only hope for an abundant life.

Faith is not something you can choose to practice or reject depending on your feelings or the situation facing you.

Faith is the cornerstone of life with God and nothing can be substituted or replace the importance of your faith.

Faith is breathing in the life of God and rejecting the ways of the world!

“Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established.” Proverbs 16:3

The fundamental question is does Christ really care about your ability to be successful?

Christ was successful in fulfilling His role and was rewarded by God with power and dominion over all things in heaven and earth.

You and I are mere mortals so how can we utilize the values of Christ to be successful in the world? Or, should the concept of worldly success be forgotten in the pursuit of Christ? Is life just about dying to self and sacrificial living for Christ?

The scriptures speak about God’s desire to give you an abundant life and bless the desires of your heart. Is this a reality or just a “feel good” promise?

Why should a disciple of Christ experience a life of pain and misery when those around you are living in luxury. Isn’t something wrong with this picture?

The religious response to these questions is to seek God first and then all the other things of life will be added to you. This seems a little over simplified in the big scheme of things.

What if you do this and nothing changes. Where is the relevance of Christ?

These questions cannot be brushed aside in the pursuit of Christ. As a believer, you and I need to understand the reality of God concerning success.

The point of view of God is much deeper than just seeking God with the understanding He will bless you. You cannot compare spiritual success to worldly success. The ends are not mutually related to each other. Jesus never experienced worldly success.

Jesus Christ died for all so you and I can have the gift of salvation. This gift is a promise of eternal life, redemption by God, forgiveness of sins, and receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Your success as a new creature in Christ Jesus is determined by God and will happen in His perfect timing.

The journey of a disciple is to walk in the footsteps of Christ. At times this will create pain and suffering as you lose your life and gain the life of Christ.

God has created a hand crafted journey for you with a calling to fulfill a specific role in the kingdom of God. Your spiritual success will come in performing the work Christ has assigned to you.

Your worldly success is measured out by God in accord with His purposes for your life. There will be seasons of both blessings and hardships.

Without faith it is impossible to please God!

God rewards those who diligently seek Him out and He desires to give you more than you ask or think.

God wants you to be successful in whatever your calling is at this time—work, education, raising a family, or a ministry. This success will come when you commit your works each day to God and walk by faith.

The real significance of success is living grounded in Christ where ever life takes you!

For in Him we live and move and have our being.

 

“For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever.” Psalm 37:28

God defines justice in ways you and I cannot understand. God looks at your heart and not so much your actions in determining how His justice will prevail in your life.

Do you love God with all of your heart and are you willing to follow Him without any preconditions? Most of the men and women who have been raised up by God to do powerful things for His kingdom have suffered greatly and endured impossible hardships.

The justice of God will preserve you forever both on earth and living with God in heaven. You may go through the fires of God and be severely tested but you will belong to the precious remnant of Christ.

The justice of God defeats evil from destroying your life. Look at how Daniel escaped death several times by the hand of God.

The justice of God blesses your descendants. Abraham believed God and was given an heir from his blood.

The justice of God provides for your needs in times of deprivation. Elijah lived with the widower and her son during a long famine and God miraculously kept the oil and grain bowls filled.

The justice of God does not overlook your prayers and obedience to God. He promises never to forsake you. Enoch walked with God and never tasted death.

The justice of God is the knowledge you will inherit His promises in the land of the living and dwell in the riches of God forever. Look at the outcome of Job!

The justice of God will fill you with His wisdom and counsel for those around you. The Psalms authored by David under the power of the Holy Spirit have helped and encouraged millions of saints over many generations.

The justice of God will implant His truths into the depth of your heart and your steps shall not slide. The spiritual man judges all things but is judged by no one. He lives with the mind of Christ.

The justice of God comes to those who have a heart for God and a desire to obey Him. You live by faith never questioning the authority of God or the circumstances in your life.